NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte says that the Victory Plan of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the first point of which is an invitation to membership in the alliance, will be discussed by allies.

He said this on Wednesday in Brussels at a press conference ahead of the meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of defense ministers, which will be held on October 17-18, answering a question from Interfax-Ukraine.

"The victory plan we discussed, we are also discussing it with Allies. It will no doubt also be on the table this week when, of course, we have on Thursday the meeting between Ukraine and NATO on Thursday night with the defence ministers. As you know, at the NATO Summit, Allies agreed that Ukraine's path to membership is irreversible and Ukraine is closer to NATO than ever before," Rutte said.

The Secretary General recalled that NATO has the "comprehensive assistance package" for Ukraine. "We are establishing a NATO Command [Rutte recently visited this command in Wiesbaden]. "There they will coordinate and provide security assistance and training for Ukraine. We have agreed on the pledge, the 40 billion [on the provision of military assistance to Ukraine per year], and we are on track on delivery. And, of course, many Allies have signed bilateral security agreements with Ukraine.

"So the work we are doing together is making Ukraine stronger, more interoperable with NATO and better prepared than ever to join our Alliance. And I believe that all this work clearly constitutes a bridge to NATO membership. Ukraine will join the Alliance, of course, when the time is right. And we will discuss, of course, also this item in the Zelensky victory plan," Rutte said.